First Columnist Certified by Proudly Human, as Journalists Wrestle with Validating the Authorship of their Work in the Age of AI

Proudly Human has today announced its certification of Guardian Australia columnist, Peter Lewis, validating that his writing is fully human created.

“As AI continues to spread into every aspect of our lives, the need to distinguish human-created from machine-generated content is increasingly important. This is why I have founded Proudly Human, a company to globally verify and certify the provenance of human creators,” said Dr Alan Finkel, Executive Chairman, Proudly Human.

This announcement comes amid a growing global conversation around authorship, disclosure, and the role of AI in the creative process. The ProudlyHuman™ certification mark puts the power of choice into the hands of readers, allowing them to knowingly choose the content they consume.

“While it is critically important that robust regulation is placed around AI, in particular its illegal harvesting of creators’ work, it is also essential that creators use these tools mindfully,” said Peter Lewis. “The Proudly Human certification process establishes the acceptable and unacceptable usages of AI in creative works and gives people like me agency in how we work.”

“It is also important for the broader community who care about truth and culture to demand these practices, and the trust mark is a useful way of guaranteeing to people that the work they are enjoying is truly the work of humans.”

Peter Lewis writes in depth on being the first columnist in the world to have his commitment to human-created content certified, in his latest Guardian column here.

The certification process is rigorous. It is also realistic in accepting non-writing roles for AI such as spell and grammar checking, background research and editorial questions. To ensure that writers do not use AI beyond an acceptable threshold, Proudly Human has defined a set of de minimis standards, outlined here.

Proudly Human’s certification model is designed to provide clarity, by giving consumers the power of choice, and authors the recognition they deserve for their creativity.